Through the years, I’ve known a lot of people who were freelance writers. Some of them did it on the side and others wrote for a living. The big difference between the two groups was how they approached the work. The ones looking at it as extra money, typically didn’t approach it like a business. It was just a part-time gig that brought in a bit of extra cash. It was not how they paid the mortgage or put food on the table.
These are also the people who tended to talk about writing as an art. I won’t argue. It is. But even artists have to find a way to earn a living if they want to create for a living.
There is nothing wrong with writing part-time, but if you dream of quitting your job to write for a living, you need to change your mindset. You need to approach your career as a business.
The first step is figure out what you need to earn to maintain your lifestyle or how much you’ll need to live if you choose to reduce your current expenses. It’s usually easier to do this by coming up with a monthly figure. Now multiply by half. Why? Because you can’t just earn what you need to pay your bills. You need to earn at least 35-40% more to pay federal, state and local taxes, plus your licensing fees. Then you need to put at least 10-15% away for operating capital to cover all other expenses associated with your business. It’s better to overestimate what you need than underestimate. Of course, the best option is to hire an accountant to advise you and help set up your books.
You also need to learn the rules for your area. There are laws governing home businesses, even writers. You also need to know the IRS rules covering self-employed persons.
There is great news for writers though: Writing has virtually no overhead. It’s just you, your computer, Internet connection and some business cards and a website. You can go bare bones and still make a decent living.
The biggest minus is how much time it takes to handle all the non-writing tasks associated with a writing business. You won’t have any writing to do without sales and marketing. Whether this means querying or rustling up clients, you will spend a good portion of your time trying to get work. Then we you do get the work, you need to track your hours, report your progress and handle invoices. Then there’s taxes…again. They are ever-present and annoying. You also have to get used to doing it all alone. Writing is a solitary venture. Great for introverts, not so great for extroverts.
If you think you don’t need to worry about this because you are going to write books and publish them with a publishing house, you’re wrong. Books don’t sell themselves. Most publishers (read: All) require writers to spend time marketing the book on social media, during book tours, and to handle other details related to getting the book to the shelf that has nothing to do with writing. No one escapes the reality that writing is a business.
It’s totally worth it. I can’t imagine doing anything else, but you must have the right mindset to make this work. You have to be able to handle rejection because it will happen more than you will like. You have to be okay with criticism because everyone thinks they can write and will make comments on your work. You have to have a plan and determination. If you are going to survive, you have to treat your writing as a business.
In next week’s blog I will offer my top 15 tips for running a writing business. The week after will address the top things you should never do as a writer if you want your business to thrive. Until then.